Dewa Province

Dewa Province Xuất vũ quốc
ProvinceofJapan
712–1869
Map of Japanese provinces (1868) with Dewa Province highlighted
Capital	Hiraka District
History
• Established	712
• Disestablished	1869
Preceded by Succeeded by Echigo Province Uzen Province Ugo Province
Today part of	Akita Prefecture Yamagata Prefecture

Dewa Province(Xuất vũ quốc,Dewa no kuni)was aprovince of Japancomprising modern-dayYamagata PrefectureandAkita Prefecture,except for the city ofKazunoand the town ofKosaka.Dewa bordered onMutsuandEchigōProvinces. Its abbreviated form name wasUshū(Vũ châu).

Hiroshigeukiyo-e"Dewa" in "The Famous Scenes of the Sixty States" ( lục thập dư châu danh sở đồ hội ), depicting theMogami RiverandMount Gassan

History

Early period

Prior to theAsuka period,Dewa was inhabited byAinuorEmishitribes, and was effectively outside of the control of theimperial dynasty.Abe no Hirafuconquered the nativeEmishitribes at what are now the cities of Akita and Noshiro in 658 and established a fort on theMogami River.In 708 AD Dewa District(Xuất vũ quận,Dewa-gun)was created within Echigō Province. The area of Dewa District was roughly that of the modern Shōnai area of Yamagata Prefecture, and was gradually extended to the north as the Japanese pushed back the indigenous people of northernHonshū.Dewa District was promoted to the status of a province (Dewa Province(Xuất vũ quốc,Dewa no kuni)) in 712 AD, and gained Okitama and Mogami Districts, formerly part of Mutsu Province.

A number of military expeditions were sent to the area, with armed colonists forming settlements with wooden palisades across central Dewa in what is now the Shōnai area ofYamagata Prefecture.The capital of the new province was initially established at Dewanosaku ( xuất vũ sách ), a fortified settlement in what is now part ofSakata, Yamagata,which served as a vital military stronghold in the expansion of Yamato control and settlement in the region. In 733, the capital was moved north, and a new military settlement, later named "Akita Castle",was built what is now in the Takashimizu area of the city of Akita.Abe no Yakamarowas sent asChinjufu-shōgun.In 737, a major military operation began to connect Akita Castle withTaga Castleon the Pacific Coast. Over the next 50 years, additional fortifications were erected at Okachi in Dewa Province and Monofu inMutsu Provinceinvolving a force of over 5000 men. The road was greatly resented by the Emishi tribes, and after an uprising in 767, pacification expeditions were carried out in 776, 778, 794, 801 and 811.

During theNara period,under theEngishikiclassification system, Dewa was ranked as a "greater country" ( thượng quốc ). Under theritsuryōsystem, Dewa was classed as a "far country" ( viễn quốc ). The name of the province was originally pronounced "Idewa". TheIchinomiyaof Dewa Province was theChōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrinein what is nowYuza, Yamagata.

During theHeian period,in 878, a major rebellion known as the Gangyo Disturbance(Nguyên khánh の loạn,Gangyo no ran)erupted in the region against Yamato rule. Another major uprising occurred in 939, as part of East Japan warTengyō no Ran.Towards the end of the Heian period, the province was organized into eleven districts. It was later a battleground in theGosannen Warand theFormer Nine Years War.

Medieval period

Following the destruction of theNorthern Fujiwaraclan by the forces of theKamakura shogunatein 1189, many Fujiwara partisans fled to the mountains of Dewa and continued to resist central authority. The area was divided into numerousshōenduring theKamakura period,which developed into the centers of numerous rival samurai clans. In 1335,Shiba Kaneyorireceived the Dewa Province as a fief fromAshikaga Takauji,but ruled it only in name. By the end of theSengoku period,theMogami clanhad emerged as the strongest local force in the southern portion of the province, whereas theAkita clandominated the northern portion of the province. Both clans sided withTokugawa Ieyasuat theBattle of Sekigahara,and were thus secured in their holdings at the start of theTokugawa shogunate.

Early modern period

During the earlyEdo period,both the Mogami and the Akita were dispossessed, and their territories broken up into smallerdomains,the largest of which were held by theSakai clanandUesugi clans.During theBakumatsu period,all of the domains in the area joined theŌuetsu Reppan Dōmeisupporting the Tokugawa shogunate. Following the defeat of the pro-Tokugawa forces, the newMeiji governmentreorganized Dewa province intoUgo Province(Vũ hậu quốc)in the north, andUzen Province(Vũ tiền quốc)in the south in 1868.These provinces became Akita Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture on August 2, 1876.

Historical districts

• Ugo Province
  • Akumi District( bão hải quận )
  • Akita District( thu điền quận )
  • Hiraka District( bình lộc quận )
  • Kawabe District( hà biên quận )
  • Ogachi District( hùng thắng quận )
  • Semboku District( tiên bắc quận )
  • Yamamoto District( sơn bổn quận )
  • Yuri District( do lợi quận )
• Uzen Province
  • Kubiki District( trất dẫn quận )
  • Mogami District( tối thượng quận )
  • Murayama District( thôn sơn quận )
  • Okitama District( trí tứ quận )
  • Tagawa District( điền xuyên quận ) (former Dewa District ( xuất vũ quận ))

Bakumatsu period domains

Name	type	daimyo	kokudaka	notes
Kubota Domain	tozama	Satake	205,000koku	also known as Akita Domain
Kameda Domain	tozama	Iwaki	20,000koku
Honjō Domain	tozama	Rokugō	20,000koku
Shōnai-Matsuyama Domain	fudai	Sakai	20,000koku	sub of Shōnai Domain
Shōnai Domain	fudai	Sakai	170,000koku	also known as Tsuruoka Domain
Yamagata Domain	fudai	Mizuno	50,000koku
Kaminoyama Domain	fudai	Matsudaira(Fujii)	30,000koku
Tendō Domain	tozama	Oda	20,000koku
Nagatoro Domain	fudai	Yonekitsu	10,000koku
Yonezawa Domain	tozama	Uesugi	167,000koku
Kubota Shinden Domain	tozama	Satake	20,000koku	sub of Kubota Domain
Yonezawa Shinden Domain	tozama	Uesugi	10,000koku	sub of Yonezawa domain
Shinjō Domain	fudai	Tozawa	68,800koku

Highways

• Ushū Kaidō– a subroute of theŌshū KaidōandSendaidōwith 57post stationsconnecting what is nowKoori, FukushimawithAomori
• Yonezawa Kaidō– connecting what is nowAizuwakamatsu, FukushimawithYamagata.
• Sendai Kaidō– connecting what is nowSakata, YamagatawithSendai.
• Ushū Hamakaidō– connecting Sakata withNiigata.

References

• Kōdansha. (1993).Japan: an Illustrated Encyclopedia.Tokyo: Kōdansha;OCLC 193352222
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéricand Käthe Roth. (2005).Japan encyclopedia.Cambridge:Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-01753-5;OCLC 58053128
• Terry, Thomas Philip. (1914).Terry's Japanese Empire: including Korea and Formosa, with Chapters on Manchuria, the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the Chief Ocean Routes to Japan: a Guidebook for Travelers.New York: Houghton Mifflin.OCLC 123254449
• Titsingh, Isaac.(1834).Annales des empereurs du Japon(Nihon Odai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.OCLC 5850691.

External links

Media related toDewa Provinceat Wikimedia Commons

• Murdoch's map of provinces, 1903